


Mistletoe

by Skye_Harvey



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dumbledore's Army, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-29 05:32:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8477233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skye_Harvey/pseuds/Skye_Harvey
Summary: We all know of the moment when Harry had his first kiss, leading to the famous "teaspoon" speech from Hermione. Except what if we swap Harry for Hermione? What happens then?This is the story of how things could have been if Hermione had been the one to stay behind and talk to Cho... Is that the only thing that's different?A/N: This is based off of the one-shot "Room of Requirement, Room of Truth"





	1. 1 - Another Meeting Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It may be the middle of the story for us, but it's the beginning of the story for Hermione.

“You did really well today Cho,” Hermione said, walking across the room of requirement. Cho was standing in front of a long, tall mirror. Photos were scattered along its outline in order to motivate the members of Dumbledore’s Army. Cho’s eyes kept locked onto a grinning image of Cedric. “Thanks,” she said quietly. “I think I’d like to be alone for now, if that’s ok?” Hermione nodded and smiled, but couldn’t quite bring herself to move away. Suddenly, a rustling noise came from above their heads. A thin green branch weaved and grew its way down from the ceiling until it was a few centimetres above their heads. Small, white berries were bunched around some of the leaves, softly sparkling in the dimmed lights.

“Mistletoe,” whispered Cho. She exchanged a glance with Hermione whose cheeks had turned a furious shade of magenta, close to the colour of her Gryffindor tie. “The room of requirement gives us what we really, truly want,” Cho’s voice was barely audible in shock. Going redder still, Hermione looked to her feet and began to walk away, heading back to the Gryffindor common room. The mistletoe crept back up into the roof as Cho ran after her. “Wait!” Hermione stopped moving, Cho’s hand tightly gripping to her arm. The girls stood in front of the large, magical doors in silence. Soon it wasn’t Cho’s eyes full of tears, but rather Hermione’s with embarrassment.

Neither one of them flinched nor moved a muscle when the rustling noise came from above once more. Without waiting for the branch to reach them, Cho leant forwards and kissed Hermione gently on the lips. Any tears the brunette had been holding back cascaded over her cheeks and the mistletoe finally came to the appropriate height above their heads. Cho pulled away after a short while, avoiding Hermione’s startled gaze. Tucking a strand of long, black hair behind her ears, Cho apologised and bit her lip.

“Did you want that to happen?” Hermione stumbled over every word, anxious to hear the answer. No words came from Cho’s mouth as she shrugged instead. A moment passed, the growing silence exaggerating painful embarrassment being felt by both girls. Hermione took a deep breath and said, “See you after Christmas, then.” They exchanged an awkward smile, neither girl wanting to show her flushed cheeks to the other. Cho left first, leaving Hermione stunned. Having eventually gathered her thoughts, she picked up her stuff and headed back to the Gryffindor common room.


	2. 2 - What Happened?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is trying to be helpful but Hermione, as usual, is being rather stubborn.

In the Gryffindor common room, Hermione sat down in one of the armchairs with a soft thud. “What’s made your face look so weird?” Ron came and sat on the sofa beside her, a ridiculously large grin plastered on his face. “Please just go away,” Hermione mumbled. “I’m not in the mood for your antics right now.” Ron’s smile fell dramatically as he got up from the sofa. “I don’t even know what antics means.”

A laugh came from the staircase as Harry came into the warming room, a golden light flickering from the fireplace. “Don’t worry about it, mate.” Ron shrugged off the comment and went up the stairs to bed. “What are you upset about then?” Harry sat down where Ron had only just been, his knees meeting his chin. “I’m not upset, don’t be so ridiculous,” Hermione rested her head on her fist, staring into the heart of the fire.

Harry laughed to himself and put a hand on Hermione’s shoulder. “Come on, tell me what happened. You stayed behind for a reason and you know it’ll come out eventually.” A moment passed and Harry removed his hand. “I promise I won’t tell Ron?” Another paused filled the dead air as the hubbub of other students became louder. “Is it about Cho?” Hermione spun her head, her eyes wide with worry. “How did-?” Harry laughed again. “You might be top of the class, but you’re rubbish at acting natural.”

Hermione’s eyebrows knitted together with confusion. “What on earth do you mean by that?” Harry rolled his eyes and sat forward on the sofa. “At every meeting the DA has had, you’ve been fixated on Cho. You’ve helped her out at least once each lesson when she’s found something difficult.” 

“That’s just being nice Harry, I do that with most people.” Hermione felt her face begin to burn and wondered why she was defending herself with pathetic half-lies. Harry shook his head slightly.

“Ok, and going red in the face every time she looks at you or if someone even mentions her? Is that just helping out a friend?” As soon as the words left his mouth, Harry realised how stupid he’d been. “Not that it’s obvious or anything! I mean, I only notice because who wouldn’t look at Cho all the time?”

He trailed off, suddenly aware that his raised voice was gaining attention form the other students in the common room. Having only just recovered from blushing earlier that evening, Hermione’s face once again turned pink. “We didn’t really talk,” she said. “It was more of… I don’t know really.” Harry placed his hand carefully on Hermione’s arm. “You don’t have to tell me if you really don’t want to; everyone’s allowed to have secrets.”

Hermione took Harry’s hand with her own and smiled a little. “If I don’t tell anyone, I think I might burst.” Her eyes met his and the worry faded. “Promise you won’t tell?” Harry shook his head. “Not even Ron.” Hermione gulped, took a deep breath, and said, “I really, really like Cho.” Harry nodded slowly. 

“Wait, that’s not all of it,” Hermione stuttered. Her nerves started to resurface, threatening to turn her cheeks an embarrassed shade yet again. “I think she likes me back.”  
Harry’s calm composure broke as an excited shine came over his eyes. “You know you look as excited as Ginny when Michael Corner looks at her.” Hermione giggled and tucked some straying hairs behind her ear. “You have to tell me what happened now,” Harry said, laughing with her.


	3. 3 - Explain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione explains to harry what happened and hopes he can give her some advice. Maybe. Hopefully. Fingers crossed. Nope. Fail.

“After everyone left, I told her she’d done some good work because she really had improved with her Stunning in today’s meeting. She was looking at a picture of Cedric and asked to have a minute alone. Of course I nodded but I couldn’t quite stop myself from, you know,” Hermione paused for a moment, hiding her warming cheeks with her hands. “I couldn’t stop admiring her.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that, I’m sure-“ Harry stopped talking as he realised Hermione was in the middle of forming a word. “Sorry, go on,” he muttered. Hermione let out a nervous laugh and continued. “I was going to leave but then the room of requirement, being what it is, put mistletoe above us.” Harry’s jaw dropped wide open. “What did she say to that?” He said slowly, in awe of what he was being told. 

‘Hermione Granger hadn’t shown interest in anyone before. Hermione Granger kept her head down and her emotions in check. Hermione Granger didn’t tend to show any sort of emotion at all come to think of it, other than anger when Harry or Ron hadn’t done their homework. Yet here she was, that same fiery Hermione Granger, showing raw emotion. Her hands were trembling from telling this story.’ Harry snapped out of his daze and opened his ears to fully hear what his friend needed to say.

“She pointed out that the room only gives us what we really, truly want. I felt incredibly embarrassed so I went to leave, but she shouted ‘wait’ to me. Then we were stood by the doors and the mistletoe came down again,” Hermione’s words got faster as she rushed to get through the embarrassing situation playing in her mind. “And,” she paused. “She kissed me.”

“Blimey,” was all Harry could think to say. “What did you do after that? Did you kiss her back?” Hermione punched him on the arm, half as a joke but half out of annoyance. “Don’t talk so loudly,” she reminded him. “Cho seemed just as embarrassed as I was. I said we’d see each other at the next meeting like I say to everyone, and then she left.” No longer feeling an adrenalin boost, Hermione slumped back in the chair slightly.

“What do I do, Harry? I’ve got no way of telling if she wanted the mistletoe to be there or not; she didn’t say anything at all.” She put her head in her hands and held back a few stray tears the best she could. 

Harry sat up, took a deep breath, and said, “I imagine she’s going through quite a lot at the moment. Obviously, she's feeling very sad, because of Cedric dying. Then I expect she's feeling confused because she liked Cedric and now she’s kissed you. She'll also be feeling guilty, thinking it's an insult to Cedric's memory to be kissing you at all, and she'll be worrying about what everyone else might say if they found out she’s kissed someone who isn’t Cedric. And she probably can't work out how to talk to you normally because you’re friends with me and I was the one who was with Cedric when he died, so that's all very mixed up and painful. Oh, and I heard she might be thrown off the Ravenclaw Quidditch team because she's been flying badly recently.”

A few students mumbled among themselves at Harry’s rant. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I wasn’t thinking.” Hermione stood up and walked a few paces before turning to face Harry, her eyes shining with tears. 

“You should really think about what you say before you speak, Harry. Some of us have more emotions than just a teaspoonful.” She flicked her gaze towards Ron who was shoving chocolate frogs into his mouth, Dean and Seamus laughing their heads off. Hermione picked up some pieces of parchment from beside the armchair and headed up the stairs to the girls’ bedroom.


	4. 4 - Ginny Could Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny might be the best person that Hermione could talk to. Except Grimmauld Place is full of Weasleys.

A few weeks later, Hermione had only taken an hour to unpack her things before the Weasley twins Apparated into hers and Ginny’s room. “Seriously?” Ginny rolled her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. Fred and George’s faces dropped, disheartened that their arrival didn’t get the reaction they wanted. “We’ll go get on someone else’s nerves then,” they said in unison. Within the blink of an eye, they had gone from the room, leaving only a spot of unsettled dust.

“Sometimes I can’t believe how calm you are with their behaviour,” Hermione said, sitting down on her neatly made bed. “I get annoyed when Ron says nothing, let alone when you have Fred and George legally allowed to use magic whenever they feel like it, and by that we both know that’s all of the time.” Ginny laughed and begun stacking her school books in a neat pile.

“What’s so funny?” Ron asked slowly as he stuck his head around the door. Ginny and Hermione exchanged a look before jointly shutting the door in his face. “Harry, did you see that?” Ron moaned from the corridor. Footsteps and the closing of a door made Hermione confident that now was a good a time as any to talk to Ginny in private.

“Can I ask you something?” Hermione said, sitting back down on the edge of her bed. Ginny nodded, going back to her school books. “How do you know you like Michael?” A slightly awkward silence filled the room, leaving only the echoing words to resonate around the aged, black walls. Ginny sat down at the end of Hermione’s bed, paused, and looked her straight in the eye.

“Whenever I see him, I can’t help but smile. It’s like there are a load of butterflies or insects or something in my stomach.” She paused again. “Actually, I’m not too sure now that I think about it. Why do you ask?” Ginny got up and tried a third time to organise her books. “You’re not thinking of making a love potion, are you? Can you imagine Ron’s face if he took a love potion?” She burst out laughing, giving up on sorting out the books.

Hermione let out a soft giggle. “Yes, that would be pretty hilarious.” The thought of Ron’s stupidity faded away quickly, her face falling into a nervous half-smile. “I need to trust you with this Ginny; I’m not sure I have anyone else to talk to like I can with you.” She thought back to her conversation in the common room. “Harry didn’t understand at all so I’m still rather confused.”

Ginny held up a hand as she sat on Hermione’s bed beside her. “Stop.” She said. “Now rewind, start and the beginning and tell me everything.”


	5. 5- Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe talking to Ginny was a bad idea. Wait. Actually. Maybe it wasn't.

After a second retelling of her encounter with Cho, Hermione felt even more embarrassed than she’d thought were possible. “That’s a bit tricky,” Ginny mumbled. “And you’ve said nothing else to each other since?” Hermione shook her head. Ginny’s eyebrows shot up. “Not even an owl?” Again, Hermione’s head shook left and right. “I wouldn’t know where to send it. Plus, it would be rather unfair of me to write a letter to her over Christmas explaining how I feel if it isn’t the same for her.”

Ginny put her arm around Hermione and comforted her. “I think the only way to solve this is to talk to her, either face-to-face or by owl. Apart from that, I can think of a reason you should have hope.” Hermione sat bolt upright, her heart slowing with suspense. “Hope? How so?” She stuttered.

“You’re not the only one who’s read up on ‘Hogwarts: A History’. It says that with the room of requirement, not only do you have to really wish something to happen for it to be there, but you can’t ‘require’ something if the other person doesn’t. Does that make any sense?” Ginny finished her speech, a grin on her face. 

“So you’re saying that if I wanted the mistletoe but she didn’t, then it wouldn’t have appeared?” Hermione stared at the floor, thoughts running circles in her head.  
Ginny nodded. “I think that’s it. So Cho must have wanted to kiss you at least a little bit, otherwise the room wouldn’t have given you mistletoe to stand under.”

Hermione grabbed Ginny by the shoulders and held her tight. “You have no idea how much of a weight you’ve lifted off of my shoulders. Thank you so, so much Ginny.” The girls laughed and remained in their hug for a few minutes.

“Blimey,” came a voice from behind. “Do girls just hug all the time when guys aren’t around?” Both Ginny and Hermione spun their heads round and glared at Ron. He started to cower in the doorway as the glaring intensified. “Um, we’re all wanted downstairs; it’s time for dinner apparently.” Harry crept behind Ron and tried to avoid the fire blazing from the girls’ eyes. Ginny immediately broke her eyes contact with Ron and skipped over to Harry. “Ok then. Just make sure you knock next time Ron.”

Hermione took a little longer to take her gaze away from Ron, but she too joined Harry in going downstairs. Ron was left panting and clinging onto the door frame. “Bloody hell,” he muttered under his breath as he staggered down the stairs to dinner.


End file.
